Who was Ariana Dumbledore?
by Moomoomacluck
Summary: Ariana Dumbledore lived a brief life, but one that influenced two of the greatest wizards ever to live. The unthinkable happened to her when she six, causing her father to punish the muggles who harmed her and be sent to Azkaban. She killed her own mother and died herself, at age 14, when trying to stop her brothers and their best friend to stop fighting. But who was she really?


Ariana Dumbledore sipped her hot chocolate; the thick, syrupy liquid coated her tongue in a sugary cocoon.

"And then we got to brush the mane of a hippogriff!" Her brother Albus exclaimed excitedly while waving his arms around as if pretending to brush one right in their kitchen. His blue eyes were twinkling as if they had absorbed not only the attention of everyone in the room, but also as if they had stolen all the light. Her brother Aberforth leaned towards Albus as if he was moth being drawn that miraculous twinkle.

Their father laid a heavy arm around Albus's shoulders and pulled him close into a fatherly bear hug and whispered something into his ear. Aberforth leaned even closer to try and listen that he almost fell out of his chair. Ariana swallowed her final sip of her hot chocolate and excused herself from the table and slipped on her favourite hat covered in lilies. Ariana's mother reluctantly pulled her attention away from Albus and asked her where she was going.

"Just outside to gather some flowers," Ariana called back and closed the door softly behind her as she heard Albus begin to delve into another Hogwarts story.

She breathed in the sweet summer air and turned her pale face towards the blue sky and allowed the sun's rays to warm her skin. She skipped down the cobble path into the town's centre and watched the muggles pass by. A young boy with a white collar and high shorts clutched his stern looking mother's hand. He looked back at Ariana with the same interest that she looked at him. Young ladies strolled along the path with their longs skirts sweeping the cobblestone; those lucky enough to have an escort had their elbows entwined in their partner's arms. They only had interest for each other.

She sat on the edge of a bench in the town square under the shade of an old oak tree. Taking off her lily hat, she fanned herself with it in an effort to blow away some of the heat. Finding it futile, Ariana wiped her brow and sighed. Her attention was diverted from the heat by a group of boys rushing into the square chasing a ratty-looking brown dog. It staggered at being struck in the head with a rock, but it kept running despite the boys throwing more at it.

Two boys stuck out from the pack. The boy in front was grinning a wild grin; his teeth were only visible as tiny points sticking out from under his curled back lips. His gleeful face caused his eyes to scrunch into narrow slits where only a glistening of the whites was visible. He pointed at the dog with a chubby finger and shrieked and hiccupped in pleasure. Another boy was in the back of the group trying to push his way to the front. His voice was hoarse and his eyes were white and fearful. Blood ran from his scraped elbows and knees as frantically tried to run to the mutt. He seemed to sense her looking at him because he swiveled his head quickly towards her and Ariana looked down at her lap.

In gristly silence, Ariana watched the group pass from her view as quickly and unexpectedly as they had entered. She was feeling slightly nauseated so she slowly stood up and timidly walked away from the bench, which was now feeling less like a pleasant spot for people watching and more like front row seat to a hanging. As she was trotting out of the square towards the fields on the outskirts of the town, she paused to investigate a spot of red that felt like it didn't belong on the cobblestone. She knelt down and with a morbid curiosity ran her finger through it leaving a bloody smear on the cobblestone the length of her forearm. Shuddering and feeling even sicker, she wiped her finger on her skirt and ran.

Birds sang and the wind whispered mournfully to each blade of grass until it reached Ariana's ankles that shook the wind off and refused to listen. She halphazardly picked flowers from the tall grass, not paying attention to whether they were bug invested or damaged. Usually, she was impeccable at selecting flowers for perfectly arranged bouquets; however, her mind was far away. Her mind was drowning in the red blood of the boy, trapped in one place by the sad whining of the dog. Absentmindedly, she wandered further into the green field towards the edge of the forest.

A sob tore out from the forest edge shaking Ariana from her reverie and causing her to almost drop her flowers in surprise. Clutching the bouquet to her chest, she demurely and quietly tiptoed into the forest. The sobs became louder and more ravaged as she approached her target. They sounded as if they were raking out the insides of their victim and Ariana was afraid that she would end up finding only an empty dried up skin by the time she reached the source of the noise. She gulped down her fear and put a tight clamp on her wild imagination.

The source of the sobbing was on the other side of a gnarled old pine tree in a clearing. It was the bloodied boy from the square cradling another bloodied brown lump to his chest. Ariana forgot her fear and rushed out of the woods, leaving a trail of strewn flowers in her wake. The two phantoms that had been haunting her since the early afternoon were here in front of her. The phantoms began to blur in her vision and she fell to her knees, causing a branch to scrape against one of her knees and a red flower to bloom that matched the boy's wound.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed, "I'm so sorry I didn't help you. I just watched…"

The boy flinched at her voice and looked up her with red-rimmed accusing eyes. He pulled the dog closer to his chest as if trying to shelter him with his body. The dog yelped with pain, which caused Ariana to finally notice its haggard breathing.

"He's not dead," she said incredulously. The boy continued to stare at her with large, lifeless eyes.

"He's not dead," she repeated as she swung her arms towards the sky as if throwing away her sadness and guilt.

The boy continued to shelter the poor pup and parted his lips to mumble something incorrigible in a raspy voice. Ariana stared at him in confusion. The boy cleared his throat with a few coughs and in a trembling, weak voice whispered, "They took his eyes and he's not breathing well."

Ariana's triumphant arms slowly dropped towards the earth as if heavy chains were placed on her wrists, link by link. She reached towards the dog and the boy recoiled from her. A horror began nipping her toes and began to creep up towards her chest as she slowly put her hands on the limp dog. She carefully turned the face of the wounded dog towards her own and horror and anger exploded in her chest causing her to cry out at the sight of the bloody tears running down from its eyelids.

A sharp crack emanated from the clearing in the forest and a white flash burned Ariana's eyes. Temporarily blinded, she heard a gasp and then a hiccup and a rasping noise. As the clearing faded back into sight, she blinked and rubbed her eyes in disbelief; the dog was definitely alive. It was still ratty and covered in dirt, but now it was happily licking the boy's face with his soft pink tongue. The boy was giggling and hugging his friend such enthusiasm, it looked as it he might never let go.

A smile spread to Ariana's face as well as she caught their contagious happiness. She allowed herself to be fully immersed in their relief and began to giggle herself. Fear was sneaking towards her and nipping at her fingers, trying to find a way in. She stayed in her state of ecstasy even when the she heard the boy softly call, "hey, what are you?" She maintained her happiness and confidence even as she looked into his fearful and accusing eyes. Fear only gripped and took over her when she looked down at his companion. The dog stared back at her with two large black, gaping holes where his eyes used to be.


End file.
